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The case chronicles the development of Lumni, Inc., an international start-up offering innovative mechanisms for financing higher education. It focuses on: the details of decision making required to transform an idea into a viable business; building partnerships; the challenge associated with raising venture capital; and the challenges of creating a new market where human capital can be traded to finance higher education.

The learning outcomes are to remember the overall context of global supply chain management from a stakeholder perspective, to understand the context of material handling movement in a mining industry, to apply the overall knowledge of linear programming in a supply chain context, to analyze the different constraints with flow of goods at different nodes in various location hubs and convert the same into the optimization problem and to evaluate carefully the different costs associated at different levels and then finding the optimal solution that minimizes the total cost.

This case proposes a mixed integer multi-echelon analytical model integrated with the scenario tree analysis. The integrated model is used to optimize the allocation of volumes at various stages of the supply chain of exporters of bulk materials like iron ore from Goa, India, to various countries in Asia. The scenario tree analysis is then used to evaluate decisions under certainty with demand as the stochastic parameter. The proposed integrated model has potential for collaboration in the supply chain and facilitating network design, inventory and transportation planning and policy analysis.

This course is suitable at the MBA level for the following courses: Operations Research (Focus/Session: Applications on Supply Chain Management), Supply Chain Management (Focus/Session: Global Supply Chain Management, Logistics Planning, Distribution Network), Logistics Management (Focus/Session: Transportation Planning) nd Operations Strategy (Focus/Session: Location Node Strategy).

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

The i-AM Tablet is an evolving gadget in a world of fast-paced technological change. Facing a new partnership with a major customer, the market for the i-AM is about to explode! This case explores the innovative concept of Supply Chain Resilience as the CEO of i-AM, Inc, develops a strategic plan for expansion. This case is based on theory and practices evolved at the Dow Chemical Company.

This case study intends to add knowledge and understanding of supply chain management particularly with respect to international logistics.

The case study can be used in both undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Students pursuing Master of Science in Logistics, Supply Chain Management and those doing bachelor degrees in the same areas can have a better insight and special interest of the case. Professional boards may also use the case to empirically make students understand this area.

The railway sub-sector in East Africa – Tanzania in particular – is an important transport mode but has a declining performance. The market share is estimated at only 4 percent of the freight market. Still knowledge about traffic, particularly for freight, is scant. The main dilemma is whether traffic of the central corridor is more intra- or inter-Tanzania. The case studies techniques appropriate for meaningful traffic forecasting and through a simple regression model it resolves the freight conflicts between Kenya rail and the Central Corridor. It provides students with applied traffic forecasting tools.

The case focuses on techniques of traffic forecasting, development of traffic scenarios and on issues related to intermodal transport especially between road, rail and ocean. At the end of using this Case students should be able to: explain the methods, techniques and models used in traffic forecasting; understand intermodal linkages in international Logistics; use different approaches to make logistics market assessment; and forecast traffic in all modes using different scenarios.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or e-mail support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

Public sector management, policy-making, sustainable development, post-Communism.

The case is designed to be used with undergraduate-level and MBA/MPA students. With undergraduate levels, the case can be used on the subject strategic management. In MBA/MPA programs, this case can be used in subjects such as strategic planning for public administration. Here, it can be stressed as being about the problems faced by a country on the long road toward democracy. Issues to be discussed in class include: environmental scanning, competitiveness, public policies and strategic agenda.

At the most general level, the case allows for the analysis and evaluation of the strategy and performance of the Albania from 1928 to 2014 along economic, political and social dimensions, using the techniques of country analysis (see Country Analysis Framework, HBS No. 389-080). Depending on time limitations and the particular objectives of the individual instructor, the case can be used to explore all phases of the nation's development or, alternatively, to focus on a specific era, such as Albania, in the way toward a free market economy. The case provides a setting in which to explore the diamond model as a tool for analyzing competitiveness and setting the economic policy agenda. In the Albania case, we highlight diamond analysis in an emerging economy. Albania also highlights the transition from a planned economy to a market economy, and the importance of a cross-border regional integration in competitiveness.

The case is written to serve a number of purposes: Understanding the problems and challenges to sustainable development, especially in a post-communist emerging economy like Albania. The transition/changes that all policymakers have to go through in their efforts for sustainable development of the country. To discuss production factors and the importance of a growth model based on the production factors.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

In April 2012, JPMorgan Chase & Company was struggling with large losses that had the potential to damage the reputation of the company, of its Chairman, Jamie Dimon, and of its Chief Investment Officer, Ina Drew. The losses arose from large credit derivative trades in the London office that Dimon described as “bad strategy … badly executed … poorly monitored”.

Students should be able to: identify the elements of business processes; analyze efficiency measures; identify and define causes of poor efficiency in business process; analyze the results of a simulation model; propose process redesign alternatives based on the analysis; and acknowledge the challenges for improving public service processes.

The process to get a passport seems to be very simple, but Jose Hernandez, a Manufacturing Plant Director, has had bad experiences the past three times he has visited the passport office. He and his family have spent more than 3 h to get the passport for his little daughter, Maria. In this case, the authors illustrate the process analysis performed by Jose to find effective and efficient solutions to the problems that he found. The case study guides students through the analysis of a business process in public service from the perspective of the users. The students participating in the case analysis will not only learn to diagnose and describe the process but also to redesign it to achieve significant improvements. Furthermore, the students will realize that adding more resources to the process may not solve the fundamental issues, but analytical and creative skills are needed. In addition, the teaching notes provide a discussion about the existing challenges to improve public service processes.

Management and engineering undergraduate programs, operations management and business process design in Master of Business Administration programs.

Teaching Notes are available for educators only.

CSS 9: Operations and Logistics.

This case uses Uber Technologies Inc. to engage students in a serious conversation about how a firm both affects its stakeholders and is affected by its stakeholders as well as the role of strategic leadership in the amount of emphasis placed on ethical practices. Uber represents a visible high-growth startup that has received considerable positive and negative attention in the media; however, few people know of the extent of its aggressive management approach. Much of the publicity about Uber is both a direct consequence of and a direct consequence for stakeholder relationships. Students are asked to analyze Uber’s approach and offer suggestions for moving forward.

This case was created using secondary data sources. The issues for Uber that led the authors to write this case were not very flattering to Uber, and therefore, the authors decided to use secondary sources. Since Uber and many of its direct competitors were private companies, the authors collected as much financial data as the authors could from publicly available sources. Also, due to the contentious nature of some of the managerial tactics used within Uber, the use of secondary data sources was warranted.

This case was crafted with senior undergraduate students in strategic management as the primary audience, but is also relevant for MBA-level strategy courses as well. This case touches upon core content in the vast majority of undergraduate strategic management courses with a special emphasis on two concepts underrepresented in most strategic management textbooks, stakeholder theory and ethical decision making.

The learning outcomes of this study are as follows:1. Analyze the pricing strategy followed by Netflix in India;2. Examine the challenges faced by media companies, including over-the-top (OTT) service providers, in developing content for target consumers in emerging markets; and3. Evaluate the dynamics of the Indian OTT industry and understand the effect of external and internal factors on the growth of Netflix in India.

This case discusses the dilemma faced by Netflix in India regarding pricing and content. Netflix was accused of hurting the religious and political sentiments of Indians by broadcasting bold shows such as Sacred Games and A Suitable Boy. Netflix is caught in a dilemma between its pursuit to achieve its target of achieving 100 million subscribers from India versus continuing its profitable high pricing strategy. Another key dilemma is regarding the streaming of attractive bold content which may occasionally hurt the religious/political sentiments of some Indians or stream only safe content which may be deemed as boring by its young target audience.

Undergraduate and postgraduate students studying Marketing courses in Commerce and Business Management streams can use this case.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 8: Marketing.

Goodwill Industries warehousing operations has increased as the Used Merchandise Store Sales in the US has also increased to a total spending of $17 billion in 2013. Goodwill Industries faces warehousing issues as their inventory fluctuates seasonally. As people do their spring cleaning in the beginning of the year and rush to get their tax-deductible donations in by the end of the year, the warehouses are overflowed but in the off-seasons they are scarce. The following case poses the issue of an efficient warehouse operation that also supports the company sales plan.